Chapter 1515: The Outsider in Purple
Chapter 1515: The Outsider in Purple
Unlike Cheng Dao, who had summoned a great wind from the Mountain and Sea to repel the enemy with majestic force, Li Fan’s methods were far more subtle.
He remained hidden in the shadows, using the techniques of the Refining Dao Medicine King Scripture to capture the spectral beast forms that scattered and fled from the battlefield.
He moved in absolute silence, not causing even the slightest ripple of energy.
The alien fusion body could only see what appeared to be a bottomless abyss before it, mercilessly devouring every part of its being that tried to escape.
As the great wind from the Mountain and Sea intensified, the countless tentacles on its surface began to thin out, growing ever sparser.
Amid bellows that sounded like pained roars, the alien fusion body was slowly ground down, obliterated inch by inch from the outside in.
It was no match in a direct confrontation, and escape was impossible. The alien fusion body was now truly trapped in a desperate situation.
Suddenly, a ferocious glint appeared in the orange-yellow eyeball deep within the sphere.
Countless fragments of flesh flew through the star sea as a colossal, bloody, and baleful aura erupted, so tangible it was almost solid. It formed a crimson torrent that crashed head-on into the great wind of the Mountain and Sea.
Ordinarily, even this desperate final act from the alien fusion body would have been no match for the mighty power of the Mountain and Sea.
"Hm?"
However, after discovering countless overlapping shadows within the bloody aura, Cheng Dao let out a surprised sound and actually chose to weaken the great wind's power.
Concealed by these billions of phantoms, the main body of the alien fusion body temporarily vanished from this region of the star sea.
Cheng Dao didn't rush to pursue it. Instead, he stared with a grave expression at the countless wraith-like blood shadows before him. The forms expelled by the alien fusion body were all human!
Their naked bodies and bestial movements gave a glimpse into their tragic fate. They didn't even possess sound minds; they had been treated no better than livestock.
"I knew this beast came from a world where thirteen Dao-forms reign supreme—a golden age for the aliens, but a living hell for our human race. I had prepared myself for it."
"But to witness such a scene with my own eyes... it is still difficult to suppress the rage in my heart." Cheng Dao's calm voice drifted through the star sea.
For a moment, the intensity of his voice even overwhelmed the howling wind from the Mountain and Sea.
Li Fan, who was now quite familiar with Cheng Dao, could clearly hear the fury simmering beneath his senior brother's placid tone.
In truth, even he felt a surge of rage upon seeing the billions of human blood shadows released by the alien fusion body.
"They must have been slaughtered and absorbed by the aliens before fleeing to this place," he mused.
"But for them, death might have been a release."
Li Fan couldn't imagine what fate would have awaited him if he had transmigrated as a human into such a possibility. He feared that even with the infinite reincarnation of [Truth], he might not have been able to escape and change his destiny.
"This creature must be executed!"
"Did it think it could escape our sight just by vanishing into the star sea?"
"Don't you know this place is but an isolated island? Without the power to cross the great ocean, once you've arrived, there is no escape!"
Li Fan channeled what little anger he felt and projected it with all his might.
His voice boomed like thunder, echoing long and loud throughout the Shuo Xinghai-High Wall star sea.
With a grand sweep of his sleeve, Li Fan gathered the billions of human blood shadows.
While sifting through them to find any hidden remnants of the alien fusion body, he also took the opportunity to guide the souls of these unjustly slain victims toward their next life.
This was not the kind of salvation that scattered the soul to the winds.
Instead, after careful inspection, he transformed each blood shadow into a stream of light and sent it into the Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm within the High Wall.
There, after several decades of cycling through the laws of heaven and earth, these resentful souls would be granted new life.
Though he couldn't guarantee they would all be reborn as humans, any fate—even becoming a mountain spirit in the Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm—was ten million times better than their previous existence as humans in the alien possibility.
"Thank you for your trouble, Junior Brother."
Witnessing Li Fan's benevolent act, Cheng Dao spoke up, expressing gratitude on behalf of the countless human blood shadows. Every master has their specialty. Though he had spent many years by Shou Qiu Gong's side, keeping watch over the Mountain and Sea and gaining countless great powers and fortuitous creations, his abilities mostly involved the macroscopic, transcendent power of the Mountain and Sea. He was not particularly familiar with the arts concerning the myriad mortal beings of the world. He would have to study Li Fan's technique of reincarnation for some time before he could replicate it.
But rage was one thing; for Cheng Dao to waste his time finding a path to liberation for these blood shadows...
...was simply out of the question.
Therefore, having his junior brother Li Fan handle it was for the best.
Li Fan was extremely efficient. In just a short while, he had completed the sorting process. The human blood shadows were sent off for reincarnation, while the remnants of the alien fusion body were directly refined into Dao pills.
Soon, the star sea, which had been thrown into disarray by the fusion body's self-destruction, was restored to its former clarity.
"Senior Brother, where do you suppose that beast ran off to?" Li Fan asked with a smile.
As he spoke, his mind was still savoring the wind of the Mountain and Sea that Cheng Dao had just unleashed.
Having personally entered the Mountain and Sea, he could appreciate the exquisite subtlety of the technique even more.
"That beast could not possibly have crossed the barrier protected by Master's phantom image."
"Nor is it within my Dao Net..."
Cheng Dao withdrew his divine ability and scanned the star sea, the killing intent in his eyes undiminished.
After a thorough search, he found no trace of the alien fusion body.
"It's quite good at hiding," Cheng Dao snorted.
"I have an idea. Please follow me, Senior Brother," Li Fan said with a chuckle, leading the way.
Cheng Dao followed close behind, and before long, they arrived at the current border of the Shuo Xinghai.
Thanks to the Guangwu Xinghai's scheme to divert disaster, a portion of the original Shuo Xinghai had been swallowed by the Dao Annihilation. What was once the central region of the star sea had now become its frontier.
The place Li Fan had brought them to was the very spot where a certain Emperor Sanmo had last been seen before he vanished while crossing possibilities alone.
After explaining the history of the location to Cheng Dao, Li Fan continued, "It brought its entire clan here in a desperate gamble, only to see them all wiped out. In the end, it had no choice but to use the means available here to flee in disgrace."
"But to think it could escape from us..."
Li Fan looked ahead and his voice turned cold. "Beast! Show yourself now!"
The star sea remained silent.
A few breaths later, a figure manifested.
Unlike the bizarre, thousand-armed ball of flesh from before, what now appeared before Li Fan and Cheng Dao was a Dao-form imbued with a sense of majesty and sanctity.
It had the body of a dragon, the horns of a qilin, the tail of a black tortoise, the eyes of a god, and the feathers of a vermilion bird...
Like a fusion of many Dao-forms, it stretched across the star sea. Though its scale was far smaller than at its peak, the ancient, primordial aura it exuded had not diminished in the slightest.
It was a near-perfect figure, as if it contained the complete truth of the Great Dao.
Even Cheng Dao, who was accustomed to the wonders of the Mountain and Sea, was momentarily stunned upon seeing the true form of this Thirteen Dao-Forms Fusion Body.
"Calling me 'beast' again and again..."
"How laughable."
"In my eyes, *you* are the beasts!"
"Today's defeat is merely a matter of inferior skill. But the Mountain and Sea is infinite. How do you know that my race doesn't possess experts who could suppress you with ease?"
"Hahahaha! I will wait for that day!"
The voice of the Thirteen Dao-Forms Fusion Body was like that of a dying old man. With its final hiding place discovered and no path left to take, its tone was remarkably calm. It simply laughed, venting the despair and bitterness in its heart.
Cheng Dao shook his head slightly, unwilling to waste any more words on the creature before him.
He was just about to strike, to seal it and transform it into a Heavenly Pillar.
Suddenly, an ethereal yet chilling voice drifted from the distant edge of the heavens.
"Unfortunately, there are none left."
As the voice arrived, so did the speaker.
The newcomer wore magnificent purple robes and had a face as flawless as carved jade. A cascade of red hair fell casually to his waist, and on his brow was a red mark that resembled a third eye.
The instant this figure appeared, a primal chill shot through Li Fan, and the hairs on his body stood on end. It was an instinctual warning, as if he had just encountered some peerless, ferocious beast.
What brought Li Fan a sliver of relief was that his spiritual sense did not trigger an alarm.
Evidently, the overwhelming killing intent that inadvertently emanated from the abruptly appearing purple-robed figure was not directed at him.
It was aimed at the Thirteen Dao-Forms Fusion Body.
It wasn't until three breaths after the purple-robed figure appeared...
...that a deep, violent rumbling began.
The Shuo Xinghai-High Wall star sea started to shudder violently.
Like a small boat caught in a sudden tempest, it tossed and swayed uncontrollably.
In the nearby void of the Dao Annihilation, Li Fan watched in horror as a heaven-piercing grand causeway was forged out of nothingness.
It stretched in a straight line, arriving directly at their location.
The mere ripples caused by the path's creation were enough to nearly capsize the Shuo Xinghai-High Wall.
And in Li Fan's mind, this path perfectly overlapped with the one the Black Heaven Physician had created when he first appeared!
When the alien fusion body had arrived, it had only managed to squeeze out a thin thread through the Dao Annihilation.
But this purple-robed expert had forged a celestial road with a single step.
The difference between them was incalculable!
"Crossing possibilities..."
"A Transcendent expert?!"
As realization dawned, Li Fan's mind was violently shaken.
Just as his thoughts raced, trying to formulate a plan, the purple-robed figure had already reached out a hand toward the Thirteen Dao-Forms Fusion Body.
The fusion body, which had been about to say more, suddenly choked.
Even its sacred and ancient aura was suppressed.
Its body was uncontrollably stretched and flattened. A look of terror appeared on the fusion body's face as it trembled violently, utterly powerless to change its impending fate.
Five breaths later, the alien fusion body had been crushed into a completely flat plane.
It had become a sheet of paper.
A rather exquisite and beautiful sheet of paper, with a profound pattern.
"A gift for you."
The man in purple held the patterned sheet in his hand, observing it for a moment. Then, without any attachment, he offered it to Li Fan and Cheng Dao.
With a gentle flick of his finger, the paper that was once the Thirteen Dao-Forms Fusion Body drifted before Cheng Dao.
Only when it was close did Li Fan and Cheng Dao sense the aura of the Great Dao emanating from the paper. It was truly worthy of being the fusion of the thirteen strongest Dao-forms from an entire possibility.
Its quality and quantity far surpassed the many Heavenly Pillars currently within the High Wall.
As the Dao paper came into his possession, both Cheng Dao and Li Fan awoke as if from a dream. Forcibly suppressing the shock in their hearts, they bowed in unison. "Our thanks, Senior."
Given the power the man had displayed in a flash, their use of the title "Senior" was by no means an overstatement. Even Cheng Dao, who usually held only his master in his heart, was utterly convinced and respectful.
At the same time, Li Fan recalled what a previous acquaintance had said about a Nameless True Immortal of the human race who had suddenly appeared and slaughtered nearly all the alien Dao-forms.
"Could it be that this man in purple is that very Nameless True Immortal?"
The thought stirred in Li Fan's mind.
During his time with Cheng Dao, he had kept the divine ability of [Fantasy Becomes Truth] constantly active. As powerful as this purple-robed figure was, Li Fan wasn't afraid of him seeing through his secrets.
Moreover, the goodwill shown in the man's words and actions put Li Fan at ease.
So, he asked directly, "Senior, were you the one who...?"
Li Fan quickly recounted the story.
The purple-robed figure smiled. "Indeed, that was me."
"However, that was a very, very long time ago."
His tone was nonchalant and perfectly calm, yet his words carried a profound sense of ages past.
It was an aura even older than the one projected by the Thirteen Dao-Forms Fusion Body.
Perhaps Li Fan's question stirred a memory, for the purple-robed figure uncharacteristically added a few more words. "Shou Qiu sensed your message."
"But at the moment, he is not within the Mountain and Sea and cannot get away. So he entrusted us to help."
"I was originally unwilling to run this errand, but well..."
The man in purple glanced at the Dao paper in Cheng Dao's hand.
He chuckled lightly. "It's been a long time since I killed one of them. My hands were getting itchy."
"They're hard to find in the entire Mountain and Sea these days. I was actually getting a bit nostalgic."
The amount of information packed into these few simple sentences was immense.
Cheng Dao and Li Fan's minds went blank for a moment before they could process it all.
"Senior, Master asked you to help?" Cheng Dao was overcome with joyous surprise.
His excited expression was not that of an old man who had lived for countless years, but of a child who had received favor from his parents and was utterly delighted.
But compared to the mention of Shou Qiu Gong, Li Fan was more concerned with two specific words the man had used.
"Not within the Mountain and Sea."
"Us."
...
The words struck Li Fan like claps of thunder, leaving him completely stunned.
Suppressing the shock on his face, Li Fan lowered his head and listened intently to the conversation between the man in purple and Cheng Dao.
"Under normal circumstances, we do not interfere in the affairs of the mortal world."
"But the situation you reported is indeed rather special..."
Without needing Li Fan or Cheng Dao to explain the cause and course of events, the purple-robed man's gaze locked precisely onto the location of the Guangwu Xinghai, beyond the void of the Dao Annihilation.
"This is indeed interesting." A playful expression appeared on his face. "This trip wasn't a waste after all."
Cheng Dao remained silent, pondering the man's words.
Amid the silence, Li Fan suddenly spoke again. "Senior, you mentioned just now that Master is not within the Mountain and Sea at present. What exactly...?"
The man in purple hadn't expected to find another one of Shou Qiu's disciples here.
But seeing that Cheng Dao didn't deny it, he didn't press the matter.
"It is exactly as it sounds."
"You will understand in the future. Telling you now would do you more harm than good."
Out of respect for Shou Qiu Gong, the man in purple gave a brief answer. Though it didn't clarify much, Li Fan dared not ask any further.
"My time is limited, so I cannot stay long."
"If you wish to watch the show, you are welcome to follow."
The man in purple gestured lightly toward the Guangwu Xinghai.
Another heaven-piercing causeway suddenly materialized within the Dao Annihilation.
It led directly to the Guangwu Xinghai!
(End of Chapter)
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